THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
“Little good is accomplished without controversy, and no civic evil is ever defeated without publicity.”
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Tuesday September 28, 2010
VOLUME 124, ISSUE 27
www.THEDAONLINE.com
Faculty Senate discusses time system by jessica leppar correspondent
Representatives from Administration and Finance for West Virginia University met with the Faculty Senate Executive Committee on Monday to discuss a new time management system for WVU employees. The new system, called My Access, will make it simpler for users, supervisors and everyone who records their working hours at the University, said Dan Durbin, senior associate vice president of Administration and Finance
for WVU. The current time keeping systems at WVU are too old to meet modern business needs and regulatory requirements, he said. “We have to do something about this, because we have 10,000 to 11,000 people that we are responsible for on the leave side (sick days, vacations, etc.) and many more than that on the payroll side,” Durbin said. Members of Administration and Finance have been working over the last several months to develop the system by having business offi-
cers, supervisors and employees test the new system in a lab, Durbin said. The system passed in the lab but just began being tested throughout the University last week, Durbin said. Members of Administration and Finance hope to have the system running fully between November and December, he said. University President James P. Clements said the former system is running parallel with the new system while it is being tested. “There are two systems to run through to make sure
that the current system will be ready when it goes live,” Clements said. However, several concerns were brought up by faculty committee members during the meeting. The first issue, brought up by executive committee member Ruth Kershner, concerned how the new system will work with overtime pay for employees. “Nonexempt employees are not exempt from overtime. If they work over 40 hours per week, they must receive overtime. It’s the law, its black and white,” Durbin said.
“Exempt employees are exempt from overtime. They can work 60 hours per week, and we are not obligated to pay them,” he said. Another issue, brought up by executive committee member Graham Peace, is that adjunct faculty members cannot work outside of normal working hours with this new system. Currently, a faculty member who used to each a night class outside his normal working hours cannot do so anymore with the new system, Peace said. “He’s nonexempt and has
done a great job,” he said. “His evaluations are terrific and he loves the course, but he just can’t do it anymore.” Adjunct faculty members can work outside normal working hours, but it requires planning and management, said Margaret Phillips, vice president of Human Resources. Also, several faculty members felt that a major problem with the new system is that they were not involved in the decision making process.
see access on PAGE 2
Pres. Obama and Clements plan to increase retention
Festival of Ideas
BY TRAVIS CRUM CITY EDITOR
President Barack Obama outlined his goals Monday for strengthening America’s higher education by making college affordable and increasing enrollment and retention rates. Addressing college students during a phone conference, Obama said he wants America to have the highest college graduation rates in the world by 2020. America has fallen from first to 12th in college graduation rates, he said. Increasing retention and enrollment rates, as well as making college more affordable would address this, Obama said. “We’ve done OK in terms of college enrollment rates, but more than a third of America’s college students
and more than half of our minority students don’t earn a degree, even after six years,” Obama said. “That’s a waste of potential, particularly if folks are racking up big debt and then they don’t even get the degree at the end – they still have to pay back that debt, but they’re not in a stronger position to be able to service it.” West Virginia University President James P. Clements said during the State of the University address last October that he had similar ideas to increase retention. “We must make a serious effort to put in place the support systems and structures to help improve retention through the sophomore, junior and senior years. We
see retention on PAGE 2
Matt Sunday/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
Rebecca Skloot, left, reads excerpts from her book to a packed Mountainlair ballroom.
Annual lecture series begins with scientific, research discussion By Erin Fitzwilliams Staff Writer
The fate of Henrietta Lacks and her contributions to the medical field was revealed to an audience of 900 people Tuesday night at the David C. Hardesty Festival of Ideas at West Virginia University. Rebecca Skloot, science fiction writer and author of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” began the Festival with a lecture on her book and research on the truth of Henrietta Lacks. Lacks and her cells were instrumental in several medical developments and continue to be studied today. Lacks gave birth to one of her children in the 1950s, at the time she had no medi-
cal problems. Within three months, Lacks developed a tumor, which was deemed cervical cancer, Skloot said. The doctors that were to remove her tumor took a sample of it during the procedure and found that her cancer cells had spread rapidly and multiplied, she said. At the time, scientists had not been able to grow cells for very long outside the body, Skloot said. “Her cells never died. They are still growing today, rapidly,” Skloot said. The cells, known as HeLa cells, were then sent to labs all over the world to be studied and are commonly used within the medical community, she said. They have helped in the development of the polio vaccine,
cancer treatments, viruses and many more medical ailments, Skloot said. Skloot has had an obsession with HeLa cells since she was 16 and her teacher taught her the origin of HeLa cells. Originally, HeLa cells were believed to have originated from Helen Lane and books often pictured her as a white woman, which is incorrect, she said. “It was very rare for (anyone) to know Henrietta Lacks’ name and that she was a black woman,” Skloot said. Skloot later spent more than a year gaining the trust of Lacks’ descendents before they gave her any information about Lacks’ life. “I called the family with updates when I found something,” Skloot said.
“I encouraged Debra (Lacks’ daughter) to come with me to see her mother’s cells.” Hardesty said his wife was very interested in the story of Henrietta Lacks and has read Skloot’s book several times. This type of lecture was why he began the series during the 1966-67 academic year when issues like the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam War were prevalent. “This campus has the same kind of lectures as other, bigger universities,” Hardesty said. “It exposes these types of ideas to students.” James Gunn, an Isaac Asimov expert, is the next speaker for the Festival of Ideas on Oct. 26 at 7:30 p.m. in the Mountainlair Ballrooms. erin.fitzwilliams@mail.wvu.edu
da staff
Two West Virginia University students hope to see their class project finished by spring 2011 by literally building it from the ground up. “The House that WVU Built” was the idea of Caitlin Carrigan, a senior interior design major, and Heather Preston, a 2009 design studies graduate, for an interior
design class. The idea of the project is to work with the Monongalia County Habitat for Humanity to build a home for a needy family in Morgantown. “The purpose is to come together as a student body, including faculty members, to raise $60,000 through donations,” Carrigan said. So far, they have raised approximately $10,000 in cash and assets, such as donated windows and doors, as well as
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JUST A FLESH WOUND
INSIDE
Monty Python’s classic film comes to the Creative Arts Center A&E PAGE 12
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News: 1, 2, 3 Opinion: 4 Sports: 5, 7, 8 A&E: 9, 10, 12 Campus Calendar: 6 Puzzles: 6 Classifieds: 11
free land excavation, she said. However, they must get closer to raising the $60,000 before they can start construction and choose a family, Carrigan said. That is why they are reaching out to the Morgantown community and other student organizations on campus. This Thursday, they will work with the American Society of Interior Designers to hold an event titled, “Make a Mark.”
From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. students who donate money to the project will be able to paint a part of canvas that will hang in the home. “Students can stop by and make their mark on the ‘House that WVU Built,’” said Barbara Lingle, assistant professor of the Professional Practice Design and Merchandising class, who is overseeing the project.
see house on PAGE 2
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Black student groups debate use of ‘n-word’ BY MELISSA CANDOLFI STAFF WRITER
Students to build house for local needy family By Samantha Cossick and MELISsA CANDOLFI
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President Barack Obama, who conference called with college students Monday, wants to increase the nation’s universities’ retention and enrollment rates.
INSIDE TODAY’S EDITION How will conditioning play a factor in the West Virginia women’s soccer team takes on Pittsburgh at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium? SPORTS PAGE 5
West Virginia University’s National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Association of Black Journalists paired up to hold a debate about the “n-word.” The debate was divided in two teams, with team No. 1 opposed to the term and team No. 2 argued that only people within the black community should use the word. The teams formed their debates around questions such as the history behind their stance, what specifically is their stance and why and how has pop culture influenced their stance.
This is the first year the debate was held. Nearly 40 people attended. Each team had two members, one from the NAACP and one from ABJ. Chelsea Fuller, president of WVU ABJ, said the teams were mixed to show that one organization doesn’t stand for this and the other that. “The purpose of the two teams are to give a stance on the argument,” Fuller said. “Not argue against each other,” Fuller said the true meaning of the debate is to encourage people to do further educational research so they are educated before forming
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WVU TRIES TO MOVE ON The West Virginia football team lost to LSU Saturday, and the Mountaineers have two weeks before they play again. How is WVU trying to move on? SPORTS PAGE 5